Ms Darina Allen:

I have two points. One is that in a way, one alarming thing about this as far as democracy is concerned is that, to a great extent, all these negotiations have taken place behind closed doors. It is extraordinarily difficult to get any information about it and we only know as much as we do because some of those involved in the negotiations leaked some documents because they were so spooked by some of the things being proposed. This is one reason we know what we do know at this point.

In addition, in case there is any misunderstanding, it is not just in Europe that there is concern regarding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, in its present form. There also is enormous concern in America and a friend of mine, Alice Waters, who runs Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, and whose name may be familiar to some members, represents, and is one of the many voices of, those people who are concerned about what Mr. Barry Finnegan referred to as high-quality food, that is, food that nourishes and is wholesome and healthy for the population. Such people already were enormously concerned about the dumbing-down of regulations on food and food products in the United States, not to speak of TTIP. Therefore, there are huge concerns and as many people are lobbying from the United States with concerns about TTIP; it is not just a case of Europe versus the United States. Many people there have similar concerns.